Drops of Jupiter
by White-Knight-1988
Summary: At the wedding of two of their closest and best friends, Tommy and Kim both take a look back at themselves and who they were in the past while trying to figure out who they are now and what they want to do with each other in the present.


A/N: I don't really like to ignore canon, especially not in oneshots but I'm doing it this time. Dino Thunder never happened and everything up until "Forever Red" is to be considered canon. From there, it's all mine. (Insert maniacal laugh here). And since I'm going to completely blow continuity out of the water, this is taking place in the summer following the Red Ranger mission.

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_San Francisco, CA, Summer_

The sun was setting beautifully in the backdrop of the wedding currently taking place in a botanical garden somewhere outside of San Francisco. Standing next to the minister was an Asian man in a black tuxedo and necktie who looked to be in his later twenties. His hair was closely cropped and his eyes formed the slightest of a squint, the only real remnant of his boyhood years, as he smiled at the bride-to-be making her way down the makeshift aisle on the arm of her father. For as long as he could remember, this was the day he had been waiting for.

Standing directly behind him, with a hand on his shoulder, was a Hispanic man of the same age and wearing the same ensemble, sans the black tie swapped for one in red instead. He stood in front of yet another man in the same age range and outfit, although this man was wearing a white necktie. He had had olive colored skin, possibly of some Hispanic or Native American descent. His hair was done in short, stylish spikes and he wore the look of a man weathered by much more than age. It was as if his eyes were trying to tell a story that his mouth simply couldn't manage to speak.

"Man, is that really her, Rocky?" the man with the white tie softly asked, tapping the one in front of him on the shoulder and pointing at the bride-to-be. Slowly, the one in red turned around with a boyish grin on his face and nodded his head.

"Yeah, it is. Pretty crazy huh, Tommy?" Rocky whispered in reply.

He expected Tommy to at least nod his head but his old friend's gaze had found its way elsewhere, specifically across the aisle to stare at the bridesmaids. Though he had only met the first one the day before as the bride's sister, he knew two of them like the back of his hand. Both had had his love and both had tossed it aside like it was yesterday's news.

The tall, gorgeous, blue eyed, blonde woman had done quite a number on him. She had been the one to repair his broken heart only to walk away and leave it in shambles once again. Though they had stayed in contact and had a semi-friendly relationship, he and Katherine Hillard weren't exactly on the best of terms. Memories of her leaving for the Royal Ballet Company in London came rushing back to him in an instant.

He could still feel the touch of her lips on his as they parted ways in the crowded terminal of Angel Grove Airport circa 1998. Upon leaving, the pair had promised to keep in touch, writing letters at least weekly and exchanging phone calls whenever possible. Tommy bid her farewell and watched her board the plane, knowing it would be the last time their lips ever met again.

Maybe, if not for the petite brunette with doe brown eyes standing behind her, he may have had a little more confidence in their parting and its effect on their relationship. Instead, his naïveté had been replaced by knowledge; knowledge that long distant relationships, especially ones where he was concerned, didn't work out too well.

It was her fault that he was this way. She had made it so that no other woman but her could ever fully have access to his heart. They could have his body, his attention and his affection, but never, ever, could they have his love. Where he could still remember bits and pieces of his relationship with Katherine, a few memorable moments here and there, every single part of his almost three years with Kimberly Hart was recallable at a moment's notice.

There had been his first day at school in Angel Grove when Bulk and Skull had cornered her in front of her locker. That was the first time they had ever actually spoken. Then there was the time right after Tommy had lost his Green Ranger powers thanks to the Green Candle. They shared their first kiss right in front of the lake that day.

One can not avoid tumultuousness though and the young couple had had their fare share of scares to combat all their good times together: Tommy losing his powers, three of their closest friends moving away while having to adjust to three new teammates, Katherine stealing Kimberly's power coin and Kim winding up in the hospital because of it. Those trials had tested them yet they had always pulled through together. But there were two memories, and painful ones at that, that he could remember above all the others.

The first was of himself and Kimberly standing together at Angel Grove Airport. It was just the two of them, not even her parents were there. They looked the part of two love struck teenagers, holding tightly to each other, afraid to say goodbye and afraid of what saying that word actually meant. So they didn't say it.

"It's not goodbye, Beautiful," Tommy had muttered, pulling back a strand of hair that had fallen over her face. "It's not goodbye because goodbye is forever. This is just…see you later."

"See you later," Kim murmured in reply as if she was trying to convince herself of it.

They kissed goodbye and Tommy watcher her get on a plane with nothing more than a duffel bag around her shoulders and the promise to call as soon as she landed in Florida. _Florida_. Just the thought of that state made him cringe for it had been the ultimate undoing of his relationship with Kimberly. If not for the distance between them, he knew their love would have made it.

From that moment on, airports would forever be engrained in his psyche as the time he said goodbye without ever getting to actually say it. It was why he knew his parting kiss to Katherine in the airport would be their last. That leads us to painful memory number two; The Letter.

With the weight of the world on his shoulders and a bar full of weights in his hand, Tommy's world had come crumbling down on him in an instant. When he had been told he had a letter from Kimberly it had taken all his resolve to finish his workout and not snatch the letter right out of Ernie's hand the moment it arrived in the Youth Center. So he had his friend Adam, the soon-to-be-husband, read it for him. The look on poor Adam's face when he read those fateful words.

_Something has happened here that I can't explain. It's been both wonderful and painful at the same time. Tommy, I've met someone else._

No one had believed it when it came out of Adam's mouth, especially not Tommy. There had been no warning signs, no fights or arguments that would have ever led him to expect this from Kimberly. For a long while after that, he had been inconsolable. No words or gestures from any of his friends could make him feel better.

But, for as unreal as it seemed at the time, Tommy knew that he had been taking a risk in telling Kimberly to chase her dreams of gymnastics glory. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the thought of Kim finding someone else in Florida had always been a very real possibility just not one that he thought could happen.

Eventually though, time healed his wounds and he was able to move on. It had been hard at first but Katherine had been their to put the pieces back together. The day she left for London was the day he knew that he'd never be able to love again. His heart had been wounded beyond repair at that point.

At the feeling of moisture in his eyes, Tommy had to blink rapidly a few times to stop the onset of tears. He was grateful that he was at a wedding where a few silent tears over a broken heart could easily be mistaken as tears of happiness for two of his best and closest friends.

As the soon-to-be Mrs. Adam Park took her place on the opposite side of the minister, Tommy's eyes fluttered away from them momentarily and landed on Kimberly. Try as he might, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. The way the strapless pink dress hugged her body made him weak in the knees. Even after all the years they'd spent apart, there had never been a more beautiful woman in his eyes.

Her beauty was a natural one. It didn't require layers of makeup and fancy clothes. There had been many a day in their youth where Tommy had found himself staring at her in a t-shirt, tennis shoes and overalls with ogling eyes. For a brief moment in time, their eyes met and they exchanged nervous smiles. Then Tommy's eyes scanned the crowd and found the muscular blonde man whose arm she had arrived on and the smile faded.

She had clearly moved on, evidence of this in the fact that she had shown up with a date. Yet, he had come alone and couldn't get her out of his mind no matter how hard he tried. There was just something about her that Tommy was still drawn to.

Many a night in his past had been spent flipping through old photo albums of himself and his teammates, at a time when their only concerns were tests and saving the world. For as serious as the job they were doing was, times had seemed so much simpler back then. Though the people in the pictures often changed as time went on, almost three years worth of photos had Kim in them in some capacity before she suddenly disappeared, only to appear but one more time.

The photo was simple, almost cold in its own right. It had been taken a short time after the Turbo Rangers had saved Jason and Kimberly from Maligore's Pit and right after Tommy, Adam and Jason had won a karate tournament that saved Little Angel's Haven, the local orphanage. Tommy was on the far left with Katherine tucked under his arm. To her left were Adam, Rocky, Tanya, Justin and Jason. Next to Jason, as far away from Tommy as possible, was Kimberly.

He hated that picture. Not just for the memories it drug up but because of how Kimberly looked in it. Every sparkle of her innocence was gone and she appeared hardened by the real world. There was no twinkle in her eyes, no big bright smile on her face. Only a sad, soft smile crossed her lips, revealing nothing yet revealing everything.

There was a look of hurt coming from her eyes unlike anything Tommy had ever seen before and he couldn't explain it. She had no reason to be hurt. After all, she had been the one to break things off with him. Shortly after they had taken the picture, she had unexpectedly fled the gymnasium. With the most confused look on his face, Tommy stared down at Katherine, his face littered with concern and apprehension.

"Go," she has whispered, urging him to follow Kimberly. "Go talk to her. She needs a friend to talk to."

"Are you sure?" he asked softly, only getting a simple head nod in reply.

He returned the gesture and pressed a gentle kiss to the center of Katherine's forehead before turning to follow Kimberly outside. His trip around the gym's perimeter had left him cold and with Kimberly nowhere in sight. Ready to throw in the towel, he stepped in a puddle on his way back inside and stopped. Hesitantly, his eyes traveled to the tiny body of water and he immediately felt a lump in his throat as he whispered her location.

"The lake."

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_Angel Grove Lake, Circa 1998_

It was cold, dark and Tommy had nothing to protect him from the chill outside of his karate gi and the white bandana across his forehead. He hadn't even bothered to put on shoes. Finding Kimberly had been an adventure complete with cut feet and a bruised heart. Right before she had gone running from the gym their eyes had met but only for a moment. There was an undeniable pain in her eyes that, try as he might, Tommy had been unable to ignore.

Kimberly had always held a soft spot in his heart even when he felt like he hated her with every fiber of his being. She broke his heart, tore it to pieces in a heartless letter yet here he was, standing a hundred or so feet away, watching her as she sat on the top of a picnic table and tossed rocks out towards the lake.

And then it was like he had no control over his feet. He ignored the sharp rocks of the gravel parking lot jabbing at them as he made his way closer to her table. When he was close enough to smell her perfume, her shoulders tensed.

She knew he was there without even having to look at him.

"You didn't have to come find me," Kimberly muttered, eyes trained on the ground. "You should be in there celebrating with Katherine and the others, not out here with me."

"Yeah, but I don't want to be with them right now," Tommy whispered, taking a seat next to her. "I want to be out here with you. I want you to tell me why you look like you're going to have a nervous breakdown right now."

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

Tears filled her eyes. Not once had she looked at him since he had sat down next to her. Her gaze was only on the dirt below. She couldn't look at him, not after everything she had done to hurt him.

Slowly, she pushed herself off the table top and, without a word to Tommy, started to walk down towards the beach. Instinctively, as if it was the only thing to do, he followed her. The distance between them wasn't close but it was close enough to make Kimberly feel uncomfortable.

She stopped and turned around to face him. "I'm sorry…for a lot of things." Tommy nodded his head in agreement with her statement. "I did a rotten thing to you and I've regretted it every day of my life. You didn't deserve to be treated like that. You deserved so much better."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I did my best and you found someone who could do better. I can't fault you for wanting to be happy," Tommy murmured. Kim looked on in disbelief like the words weren't really coming from his mouth. "Sure, I was hurt at first, maybe even a little angry. I didn't understand why you did what you did. But I woke up one morning and I realized that I had done everything I could to be there for you and that, if that wasn't good enough, it wasn't my place to stop you from finding happiness."

Kim immediately chided herself for thinking that Tommy would have handled this conversation with anything less than the utmost maturity. He had always been the strong one. When the world was ready to collapse, he was the one to stand at the front of the line, supporting it.

"Can I ask you something?" Tommy continued. Kim looked up at him with her soft brown eyes and nodded slowly. "Are you happy? I mean, really happy?"

"I wouldn't say happy so much as content." Kim answered quietly. Tommy frowned. "When I was here, at home, with you and the others by my side, I was happy. But that's the price you pay for chasing your dreams and walking away from everything, and everyone, in your life that matters. How about you, Tiger? Are you happy?"

"I-I don't know. I mean, I'd like to think I am," Tommy replied, flinging a stone across the lake's surface. "Katherine is a really great girl and I have great friends but I feel like the world is falling down around me. It just-it seems like so much has changed since it all began, ya know?" Kim nodded, agreeing. "Even when Jason, Zack and Trini left, there was still you and Billy there. Now he's gone, you're gone and I'm the closest thing to an original Ranger that there is left. I guess-I guess I just never saw it ever really coming down to this. I always thought we'd be together forever. Not just you and me, but the team as well. The _team…_"

"What about the team?" Kim asked in an almost whisper.

"We're falling apart at every corner, Kim. Every new teammate is harder to adjust to. When Jason, Zack and Trini went to Switzerland it was easier 'cause I had you and Billy. Now the only ones I even really know are Adam and Katherine. Justin's in for Rocky. Tanya replaced Aisha last fall. And you're gone…that's the hardest part of all."

"M-me?" Kim asked meekly. Tommy nodded softly. "But what about Katherine? You said that she's such a great girl and all…"

"Oh, don't get me wrong. Katherine is awesome and I love her a lot," Tommy answered. He could immediately see the hurt look on Kim's face when he said 'love' and immediately tried to backpedal. "I mean she-she just doesn't have that fire like you did. She fights because she has to, not because she wants to. Sometimes, I think she does it only out of respect to you."

"Do you ever wish you could go back and change something?" Kim asked, not totally changing directions but drifting a bit. With a deep breath, Tommy leaned against one of the trees behind him and carefully ran his hand through his hair.

"Would you?"

"I asked you first."

"I don't care."

Oh how quickly the tables can be turned.

"Honestly, I'd change a lot," Kim breathed. "I wouldn't have ever gone to Florida. By chasing a child's dream I gave up something amazing that I'll never get back."

"What?"

"You."

"Kim, I-" he stopped when her hand went into the air.

"I know. You're with Katherine now. You guys have a great thing and I'm happy for you. I just-" Her voice cracked and she had to take a couple deep breaths to compose herself. All the while, Tommy was looking at her with disbelief in his eyes. "I wish I would have realized my mistake before it was too late."

Tommy looked down at her in surprise when she reached out and cupped his cheeks. She closed the distance between them and their lips brushed against each other but only for a moment.

"What was that for?" Tommy asked as Kim slowly pulled away.

"I had to see," she replied.

"See what?"

"If the spark was still there."

"Is it?"

With tears in her eyes, Kim slowly shook her head. It wasn't. "No, it's not," she whispered, rubbing the back of her hand against his cheek. "Goodbye, Tommy."

With that, Kim turned on her heels and made her way towards the black Toyota Camry parked right next to Tommy's red pickup. Fifty parking spots to choose from, many closer than his and he still chose to park next to her. Whether it was conscious or not, that said more about his relationship with Katherine than he ever realized. She could be there to patch the wounds, to mend the broken fences but when push came to shove, the falcon and crane would always fly side-by-side.

"Kim!" Tommy called after her. He didn't move towards her, only waited patiently while she debated turning around to face him. The way her body turned in the moonlight, it was like seeing her for the first time all over again. This wasn't the Kimberly he knew. His Kimberly was bubbly and full of life not so sad and distant. "Friends!?"

Wiping the tears out of her eyes, Kim managed to nod her head. Waving goodbye, Kim got into her car and slowly began to back out of the parking spot. At the time she didn't realize it but the pace of her departure was intended only to give Tommy a chance to change his mind. He didn't go after her.

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_Present time, San Francisco_

So there they were, standing across from each other while two of their closest and best friends prepared to marry. They had been exchanging awkward glances the whole time, practically ignoring everything that was going on around them. In the back of his mind, Tommy knew that the looks meant something, that they were some message she was trying to convey without actually saying anything.

He could hear one of the groomsmen, Adam's cousin Josh, stifling a laugh as Adam fumbled over his wedding vows. That brought him back into a quasi reality long enough for him to listen Adam finishing the commitment of his life to another. But as soon as Aisha Campbell began to recite her own set of vows, his eyes floated back to Kimberly.

It had been unintentional, simply a force of habit but he found himself licking his lips at every square inch of her from her perfectly painted toenails, pink of course, to the way the floor length gown hugged her body to the smile painted on her lips when he realized that she had caught him staring at her. A hint of redness touched his cheeks and he turned his head just in time to see Adam lift the veil on Aisha's head and plant a loving kiss on her lips.

From there, the evening went by in a blur. He could vaguely remember bits and pieces of it: Rocky's speech as Best Man, taking pictures with the groomsmen then the whole wedding party and finally a few with all the Rangers, Adam and Aisha cutting their wedding cake, their first dance as a married couple. When the hundred or so guests took to the outdoor dance floor, he had disappeared in way that only Tommy Oliver could do.

He quietly finished his dinner and excused himself from the head table to use the restroom, knowing he wouldn't be missed as soon everyone started dancing. From the top deck of the four-story villa overlooking the garden he could see Rocky and his wife Alyssa, their arms wrapped gently around each other, swaying back and forth to the music.

Turning his attention to the bar are he caught Zack standing by counter with a drink in hand, chatting up two of Aisha's cousins and smiled at his old friend. Somethings never changed. Somethings did change though. Like the fact that Jason was down there with Trini somewhere in that crowd of people. That had come out of left field almost as unexpectedly as Adam and Aisha whose romance didn't even start until they were both twenty-five and Aisha had returned to the States from Africa.

Then there was Katherine and her fiancée, Bryan. They seemed completely engrossed in each other's company like they were the only two people in the world and he was happy for her. He wanted the best for her, just like he did for Kimberly.

"Kimberly," he whispered hoarsely when he saw her.

Kimberly was down on the dance floor, spinning in circles with Rocky and Alyssa's little five year-old son Dominic. A smile crossed his lips when he saw that she wasn't lost in the arms of that muscle-headed date she had shown up with. He could compete with a five year-old. Piercing blue eyes, huge muscles and wavy blonde hair were another story, though.

The only one of the first ten missing was Billy. He was still on Aquitar and had sent his love for the newlyweds. Chuckling to himself at the sight of Kim and Dominic, he walked back into the room that, as the only two single guys, he was sharing with Zack and headed straight for the mini-fridge.

Armed with two bottles of Sierra Nevada, Tommy was planning on doing nothing more than drinking and people watching but, on the way out the door to the patio, something caught his eye. Leaning against the wall next to his bed was a black case maybe four feet long, thin at the top and thick at the bottom. Walking over to the case, he popped it open and shook his head.

Tommy had always admired Kim's musical skills and Adam had somehow convinced him to pick up the guitar two years ago. He was no Eddie Van Halen. There wasn't an ounce of Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton in in him but he was decent and could play a few songs. After carefully extracting the instrument from its case, Tommy took it with him onto the deck.

He took a seat in one of the small wooden chairs and leaned it back against the wall so that he could see over the maple guard rail. Popping open one of the beers, he took a few quick gulps and set it on the table next to him. He grabbed the neck of the guitar and pulled the strap over his head. There was a pick at the top of the neck that he removed before gently bringing it down on the strings.

_Now that she's back in the atmosphere_

_With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey. _

_She acts like summer and walks like rain, _

_Reminds me that there's time to change, hey, hey. _

_Since the return of her stay on the moon,_

_She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey. _

Tommy sang, beautifully stroking the guitar the whole way. He looked down, saw Kim with Dominic and smiled wistfully at the mismatched pair.

_Tell me, did you sail across the sun? _

_Did you make it to the Milky Way, _

_To see the lights all faded, _

_And that heaven is overrated? _

_And tell me, did you fall for a shooting star? _

_One without a permanent scar, _

_And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?_

Looking down again he saw that Kimberly and Dominic were no longer dancing. Either that or they had just moved out of his sight. He continued picking at the guitar.

_Now that she's back from that soul vacation  
_

_Tracing her way through the constellation, hey, hey.  
_

_ She checks out Mozart while she does Tae-Bo  
_

_ Reminds me that there's room to grow, hey, hey_

_Now that she's back in the atmosphere  
_

_ I'm afraid that she might think of me as _

_Plain ol' Jane told a story about a man _

_Who is too afraid to fly so he never did land_

"You're not supposed to do this to me," he muttered to no one in particular, not once missing a note. "You're a part of my past. You're not supposed to have this effect on me anymore."

_Kimberly, did the wind sweep you off your feet?  
_

_ Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day,  
_

_ And head back to the Milky Way?  
_

_And tell me, did he really blow your mind?  
_

_ Was he everything you wanted to find,  
_

_ And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?_

Leave it to Tommy to change three words to a song and make it so much more personal. Sitting on the balcony, playing the guitar while watching the goings on of his friends, he was too caught up in what he was doing to notice her standing there behind him in the doorway with tears in her eyes. She didn't make a move. So long as he didn't see her first she wasn't going to reveal herself until the last possible moment.

It came when Tommy started to sing the last part of the song and she jumped in, cutting him off. Tommy never stopped playing. He just smiled at her the whole time,, completely oblivious to anything but her, the half-smile on her face, and her tear-filled eyes.

_Can you imagine no love, no pride, no deep-fried chicken  
_

_ Your best friend always sticking up for you _

_Even when I know you're wrong?  
_

_ Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance, five-hour phone  
_

_ Conversation  
_

_ The best soy latte that you ever had . . . and me_

She pulled up the seat next to his and planted herself as close to him as possible. They exchanged a momentary look and a small smile between them before they finished it together.

_Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet?  
_

_ Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day,  
_

_ And head back toward the Milky Way?_

_Tell me, did you sail across the sun? _

_Did you make it to the Milky Way,_

_To see the lights all faded, _

_And that heaven is overrated? _

_And tell me, did you fall for a shooting star? _

_One without a permanent scar,_

_And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?_

"I didn't know you played. When did that start?" Kim inquired as soon as they had finished the song.

"Adam got me into it a couple years ago," Tommy answered. "I've had this thing in my closet since I was a kid though. It used to be my dad's."

"Your dad played?" Kim asked, surprised that she didn't know that. Tommy nodded softly. "And the singing? I never thought I'd ever hear you really sing. And don't tell me you sing in the car 'cause that crap doesn't count."

"I don't know where it came from. I think it's just something that comes naturally when you pick up a guitar," Tommy asked, removing the strap from around his shrugging shoulders. He set the instrument down and replaced it with his beer bottle. "So where's your big buff date? He a little too much muscle for you to handle?"

"Oh he's down there somewhere. Probably chatting up that cute bartender," Kim laughed. "What was his name? Jesse?"

"Something like that," Tommy replied, not understanding the implications of Kim's statement. He had to ponder it for a moment before it actually clicked. "Oh…"

"Yeah. Besides the fact that he's gay, Rick is definitely not my type. I don't do blondes," Kim said as she removed the bottle from Tommy's hands and took a sip. She returned it to him with a sly smile. "I prefer quiet brunettes with more heart than muscles."

"Sorry, Kim. But Rocky and Jason are both taken," Tommy quipped. She retaliated with a playful slap to the shoulder and he was quick to change the subject. "I still can't believe Adam and Aisha are married. Who would have ever seen that one coming?"

"Seriously. One minute Adam's bringing in his dog to the clinic where she works and next thing you know, they're hitched!" Kim exclaimed with glee. "I'm so happy for both of them. They really do deserve each other."

"Yeah. They do," Tommy replied, looking down on them for just a moment before returning his attention to Kimberly. "So what's up, Kim? I know you didn't just come up here to interrupt my song and drink my beer. Or do you miss me that much?"

"Oh you wish I missed you."

"You do."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"I love you."

"Marry me?"

"Where's the ring?"

"Up your butt."

Tommy laughed and leaned his shoulder against her. She leaned her head against his and together they laughed some more. This playful banter had become something like commonplace between them over the past year and a half.

"How did we end up here, Kim?" Tommy asked, instantly changing their moment of goofiness for something that was far more serious.

"You mean me cutting rug with a five year-old while you sit up here alone on your balcony singing depressing songs from the 90's?" Kim fired back. She expected him to laugh. Every time Tommy had tried to get serious about 'them' recently, she had managed to change directions by making a joke out of it. But there was something in his eyes tonight that told her it wasn't going to work on him this time. Her eyes narrowed and she looked at him with the same serious expression he wore. "I don't know, Tommy. I haven't the slightest clue. You tell me."

Tommy reached out and took her hand, leaning closer towards her. She could feel his warm breath against her ear when he whispered, "I think we've been here all along, dancing in front of each other just out of reach from the other, playing this silly kid's game like it doesn't effect us when all either of us really wants is for the other to know how much we care."

They were so close to, yet so very far away from, touching what both of them so desperately wanted. She listened to him as a flash of more recent memories came rushing back at her in an instant, the past year and a half ripping through her head at warpspeed.

A chance meeting in a Los Angeles grocery store a little over two years after their last discussion that led to an invitation for coffee where they proceeded to catch up on everything going on in their lives. Tommy's racing career was coming to an end and he was looking to invest some of his winnings into opening his own karate school outside of Los Angeles. Kim was moving to the L.A. area with her boyfriend and was thinking about using some of her Pan Global money to open a gymnastics academy. It was only natural that they opened _Soaring Falcon Dojo/Graceful Crane Gymnastics_ together.

She could see them standing together in front of the door to their school, preparing to cut the tape in front of it four months after their grocery store encounter and three weeks ahead of schedule. Tommy gleamed with pride that day, his parents and all their closest friends flanking them as, holding the small pair of scissors together, they cut the tape.

Then there was the breakup three months after they had opened the school. It had come so suddenly. Kim wanted a serious commitment from her boyfriend of almost two years, one that he wasn't willing to give. They got into a fight and he kicked her out of their apartment.

That night, Tommy took the couch in the living room of the flat that he had built over their school. It took the better part of three hours of him holding Kim, rocking her back and forth and telling her that everything would be okay before she had fallen asleep in his arms. He carried her into his bedroom, tucked her into his bed and bid her goodnight with a simple kiss on the forehead.

And who could forget the hospital when Tommy's father had suffered a massive heart attack while walking their dog. The school was still in its infancy and Tommy didn't know if he would be able to get away to see him. He was a wreck for three days straight before Kim practically forced him to close the school, pack a bag and go with her to Angel Grove.

That had been eight months ago and her support of him had been unwavering since. When he stood there outside of his dad's room, crying in her arms, wondering if his dad was going to make it was when he felt it again. Things after Murianthis had been rough and there hadn't been enough time for that spark between them to show itself again but all those months together of six days a week, ten hours a day, had reignited something inside of him. But he was, and always had been it seemed, a product of bad timing.

His feelings had chosen to come back at a time where he was concerned about his father and was emotionally vulnerable and unsteady to say the least. He attributed those crazy feelings to his state of mind and pushed them into the depths of his brain, hoping that they would find permanent residence in the back of his head.

There's a saying about old dogs and not being able to teach them new tricks. Now, Tommy was no dog and he wasn't really old but there weren't going to be any new tricks learned by this particular former Power Ranger.

Though the way he felt about Kimberly didn't change with time, he kept his distance in that regard. They were getting along famously. There was no animosity between them and he didn't want to risk their friendship by confessing any feelings for her that went deeper than that.

Tommy teased Kim the same way he teased Rocky and Jason. She fired it back like he was Aisha or Trini.

They weren't ex-lovers anymore, they were friends. Close friends. Maybe even best friends.

And their school was actually turning a profit! The doors on the school were open for barely three months when they had their first month in the black. It had only been two-hundred dollars but they had accomplished one of their goals and they had done it together.

Really, it all came back to that one word: together. Almost everything that they had done since opening their school had been together. Even when Kim was still with her ex-boyfriend she saw more of Tommy than she saw of him. They worked together, hung out on the weekends together, they ate two meals a day together, sometimes three if they worked late. He bought breakfast and she bought lunch every work day and Sunday's, the one day out of the week where the school was actually closed, just seemed awkward. To both of them.

They were on a level that their high school love couldn't hold a candle to. Their relationship, if that's what you wanted to call it, had developed into something that was far much more adult in nature.

He looked at her and didn't feel like he needed to be perfect around her anymore. There was no need to even try when all that she wanted from him was something as simple as his friendship.

She looked at him and saw that his eyes didn't tell the whole story like they used to. In a time long passed she could stare into those deep chocolate eyes and know exactly what he was thinking without him having to say it. That only added to the current allure. It made her want to know the new Tommy Oliver like she knew the old one; inside and out.

If they both took a step back and analyzed their relationship for a moment, they'd see that it had become exactly what Kim's breakup letter to him had defined it as. They were like siblings; able to laugh, scream, cry and yell at each other and still be closer than close when the day came to an end.

Neither of them wanted to think of their relationship in that way though, not when both were harboring such strong feelings towards the other. Tommy just didn't know if Kim felt the same way about him that he felt about her and vice-versa. Risking their friendship was something that was completely out of the question. At least it had been.

The last flash of memory was something unlike the others. It was the one that made Kim realize that she needed to come to a decision about Tommy; did she love him or was their relationship one that was meant to simply remain platonic in nature?

Tommy had just turned the lock in the door and was walking Kim to her car at the other end of the parking lot after another ten hour day. It was a Saturday, the end of the workweek and just two weeks before the wedding. Tommy still hadn't found a date and Kim hadn't mentioned having one either. He was walking to his car after leaving her at her own with their normal, friendly, goodbye hug when he stopped and turned around.

"Hey!" he had called out from across the parking lot. She stopped midway into her car and turned around to face him. "You, uh, you wanna go to Adam and Aisha's wedding with me!?"

"We already are!" Kim shouted back. "You agreed to drive, remember!?"

"I know! I meant like, would you like to be my date for the wedding!?"

"Oh, sorry, Tommy! I thought you already had a date or something so I asked Greg from the coffee shop if he wanted to go with me on my way into work this morning!"

"Oh, that's cool! Save me a dance!?"

"Hey, keep your conversation to yourself!" a random pedestrian shouted.

"Hey fuck you asshole!" Kim returned, flipping him the bird before returning her attention to Tommy's question, ignoring his cheeks red with embarrassment. "You bet! We still on for movie night, tomorrow!?"

"Absolutely! It's your turn to pick so please, for the love of God, no chick flicks!"

"Haha, we'll see! Enjoy your night, Tiger! I'll see you tomorrow around five or five-thirty!"

Kim finalized their conversation that night by ducking into the car and shutting the door behind her before he could say anything else. At the time, it had all come off so nonchalantly that Kim hadn't really noticed the hurt expression on his face when she had told him she already had a date. How she had missed it before was beyond her, but now, with everything on the line, she could see it as clear as day.

Presently, she has her eyes locked on Tommy's. For the first time since running into him in that Safeway, those eyes of his are finally telling her something. And not just something, they're telling her just about everything. They're so obviously pleading with her to make things right between them, to make things how they both know they're supposed to be.

Yet, those eyes were telling her something completely diffferent as well. They had a certain amount of fear in them. She'd seen this fear before. He has the same look on his face that he had right before he tried asking her to a dance only to be interrupted by a group of Putties.

It's plain to see that the fear he has is over what could potentially happen between them. Would they have their happily ever after or would she break his heart like before? She was fiercely determined to make sure that the latter never happened to him again.

He wasn't going to be the one break the silence between them.She could see that. His eyes were focused on hers and he had gotten lost in them, swimming in pools of beautiful hazel. There was no saving him once he got like this. She knew that better than anyone but she still wouldn't make the first move. She would lay the foundation for it, though.

With a deep breath, she pushed back a little bit, just enough to get Tommy's brain going once again. It snapped him from his stupor but his grip on her hand never broke.

"What do you want from us, Tommy?" she asked, keeping her eyes locked on him.

"I don't want anything from us. I just want there to be an 'us,'" Tommy answered, gently stroking the tops of her hands with his fingers.

"It won't be the same. We're not the same people we were when we were kids, you know?"

"I know. I don't want it to be the same. I'm not looking for the Kimberly Hart of old. I don't want the little innocent Kimberly that came waltzing into my life like a dream. I want this one," he replied, breaking his grip only for a moment to touch her heart. "I want the smart, savvy, sophisticated, beautiful woman I see now. The one I go to work with everyday. The one who can make me laugh and cry in the same breath. The one who makes me feel like I'm flying at 30,000 feet with no Zord every moment that I'm around her. I want you."

"I don't want the old Tommy either. I got over that Tommy a long time ago. I don't need you to come in and save me from Bulk and Skull anymore. I don't need you to be my valiant protector even though you'll always be my White Knight," Kim countered, their foreheads pressing against each other, her voice barely an audible whisper. "The Tommy I want, and the Tommy I need, is you. The one who doesn't treat me like a kid or feel like he has to walk on eggshells when he's around me. The one who, just by smiling, can make me feel like I'm the most beautiful woman in the world."

"Kimberly, you_ are_ the most beautiful woman in the world. You're _my_ Beautiful," Tommy returned, stroking the side of her cheek with the back of his hand. "You know, they say the office pool is a bad place to swim in."

"Well then I guess I'm on lifeguard duty, aren't I?" Kim laughed, nuzzling up against his side. "You wouldn't want one of us drowning in that pool, would ya?"

"Ya know, you have the uncanny ability to take a very serious moment and turn it into a complete joke," Tommy said, trying to maintain the serious expression on his face. The 'who, me?' look that Kim countered with made that pretty hard, though. "You're beautiful," he continued, softly running his hands through her hair. Her long locks made him actually miss his ponytail days, though his current do was much easier to maintain.

"You're amazing," Kim replied, brushing her cheek against his. Her soft skin dragged across his evening stubble in a way that made her whole body shiver.

"You complete me."

"You make me feel special."

"You_ are_ special."

"I'm not in love with the old Tommy."

"I'm not in love with the old Kimberly. I thought we went over that one already."

"We did. Just driving the point home."

"You never cease to amaze me," Tommy laughed.

He finished off his beer and set it on the table, reaching for the unopened one. Using the bottle opener attached to his keychain, he popped the top and handed it to Kim.

"Do you feel weird being up here alone when there's a wedding reception for two of our best friends going on down there?" Kim asked, jerking his head towards the railing as she took a sip from the bottle.

"Nope," Tommy answered, taking the bottle and a drink then returning it to her. "Adam walked by with Rocky a couple minutes ago. They waved and gave me a thumbs-up. They're all pulling for this about as much as we are."

"They want to see us happy."

"Are you happy?"

"Remember the last time you asked me that?"

"Yep, it was right after Murianthis. You said that you weren't really happy. I think the word you used was 'content' if memory serves me right," Tommy answered, Kim nodding her head. As they stood up and moved forward to lean on the railing, he was clearly fighting the urge to close the gap between them. They had been dancing around this for so long and now it was there, hovering dangerously in front of their faces. "But I didn't ask you about then. I asked you if you were happy now."

"Honestly? For the first time in a long time I think that I can actually say that I am," Kim replied. The smile on her face let him know that she was really telling him the truth. "I've got the school, I'm close to all my friends again and you…well, you just don't seem to ever really go away."

"Are you complaining, Ms. Hart?" Tommy inquired, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"No, Tommy. I'm not," she answered and suddenly it was serious time again. "You're always there for me, through the good and the bad, even when I don't want you to be," she continued. Closing not only her eyes but the distance between them, Kim planted the softest trace of a kiss against his lips. "And you will always have my love because of it."

"What was that about?" Tommy asked, touching his lips with his hands in shock. He wasn't adverse to the kiss, he just hadn't been expecting it.

"I had to see," Kim answered.

"See what?" Tommy returned, knowing what her reply was going to be.

"If the spark was still there."

"Is it?"

With tears in her eyes, she looked Tommy dead on in his own. Instantly, he was taken back to the lake shortly after the karate tournament had ended. They had been through this before and she had said that the spark between them wasn't there anymore.

When she extended her hand and slowly started to brush his cheek with the back of it he started to fear the worst. She made that all disappear with the most amazing head nod he had ever seen before. "Yes, Tommy. It's still there."

She felt his arms go around her and suddenly she was being pulled against his chest. There she stayed, crushed against his body for the better part of a minute and that was just the previews. He lifted her into the air and spun her around in circles until neither of them could see straight.

"You…you…you," Kim tried. She was staggering around in a circle and pointing an accusatory finger at Tommy. "You…you…you. You love I."

Tommy watched, laughing as Kim spun and fell to the floor. Gripping his side tightly, he joined her on the wooden deck a few seconds later.

"You said you love I," Tommy giggled. Yes, he giggled. He was rolling on the floor and giggling like a small child. "I think you meant I love you."

"Are you deaf?" Kim asked. Looking up at the sky she laughed when she saw that it was all spinning around her. "That's what I said. You love I."

Tommy opened his mouth to speak but quickly realized that he had been caught in nothing more than a very elaborate Kim-trap. She had technically gotten him to say 'I love you' first. Regardless of the context of the statement, she had gotten him to say it. He wasn't going to let her get away that easy though.

Seemingly out of nowhere he pushed himself onto his feet and grabbed Kim by the waist, lifting her off the ground. Effortlessly, he hoisted her tiny body over his shoulder and carried her into his room. There were two king sized beds and he was going to toss her on the first one he saw. Thankfully, it was his and not Zack's.

He tossed her on the bed like she weighted nothing and then dove after her, tackling her backwards. All the while Kim looked like a deer in the headlights. She didn't know if she was enjoying it or not but she wasn't about to tell him to stop, either. Having Tommy take control like that made her weak in the knees.

His body was hunched over the top of her own, their hands intertwined and resting on either side of Kim's head. In one sweeping motion he descended on her lips and captured them against his own but as quickly as it had come, it was over.

"Say it," he whispered against her ear. The pressure he was applying to her body suddenly increased. He wasn't hurting her but he was making it awfully hard for her to move.

"Say what?" she asked, feigning innocence.

"You know what. I'm not letting you up until you say it."

His voice came out more like a command and less like a request this time around. It was demanding and Kim knew that he was serious. With a twinkle in her eye, she looked up at him and smiled.

"I love you," she whispered.

In exchange for giving in to his demand she promised herself that she was not going to give Tommy a chance to reply. Instead, when he opened his mouth to speak, she jerked her head up from the pillow and kissed him hard on the lips. It was a kiss unlike anything they had shared together.

Their kisses as teenagers had been few and far between and, when they did come, they were short and soft, nothing like this. He parted her mouth with his tongue and she allowed its entrance to wrestle with her own. It took all her self-control not to melt in his arms right then and there.

His grip on her arms loosened a little bit, just enough for her to turn the tables on him. She slipped her wrists out of his grasp and flipped them over to grab his own wrists. Suddenly he was on his back, looking up at her as she smiled down on him from above.

"Say it," Kim demanded.

"I love you," he answered, depriving Kim of any fun she hoped to have with him. "I love you more than anything else on this planet."

_Dammit, Tommy. You're good_. Kim chided herself. _But I'm better. Quick, Hart! Think! You gotta walk out of this one on top._

"Good," she said in nothing more than a whisper against his ear.

Slowly, she pried her body away from his and climbed off of the bed. Without even looking at him she started for the door. She gave him a tantalizing wiggle of her ass as she opened the door and he sat up against the headboard.

"Hey!" he called out. "Where are you going?"

"To play hide-n-seek," Kim replied quietly. She threw a rather tantalizing wink in his direction just for good measure. "I'm hiding and you're seeking."

"What do I get if I find you?" Tommy asked.

Kim pondered it for a moment. "A night of great sex with the woman you love."

"And if I don't find you?"

"A night of great sex with the woman you love. Now count to twenty and then come find me. Now!" Kim yelled, slamming the door behind her.

Inside the room, Tommy's heart was beating a mile a minute. Those twenty seconds seemed like they were the longest of his life. He was on seventeen when he got up from the bed, nineteen when he reached the door.

"Twenty! Ready or not, here I co-" he paused when he opened the door. He had been expecting Kimberly to hide in one of their friends' rooms not to be standing there in front of his door in her bra and panties with her dress folded neatly in her hands. "-me."

"I was hoping you'd want to do that," Kim said seductively.

She jumped through the doorway and flung herself at Tommy who somehow managed to catch her midair and still stay on his feet. For the whole five seconds that it took him to carry her to his bed, they kissed like madmen. He laid Kim carefully on the bed and then pulled back.

Slowly, he started to lift his shirt over his head, doing his best to tease Kimberly. She squealed like a little girl, clapping and cheering him on the whole time. These were definitely games that he could get used to.

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_There you go. Something to keep your thirsts quenched while I struggle to get back into writing my other stories. But hey, at least I'm writing, right? Anyway, I've got this itch to turn this into something more than a oneshot but not like a full blown story. Maybe just another chapter or two. What do you guys think? Let me know. Talk to you soon._

_WK_


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